The Storage Bridge Bay (SBB) specification is a standard for storage solution providers who desire to have a standard controller and slot compatibility between respective controllers which can be manufactured by different organizations. The SBB specification describes the physical requirements for storage canisters 10 (See FIG. 1) and the mid-plane connectors of a storage enclosure (not shown). The storage enclosure can envelope or house one or more storage canisters 10. Meanwhile, each storage canister 10 houses a printed circuit board having electronics mounted thereon. A current version of the SBB specification, as of this writing, is Storage Bridge Bay Specification, Version 2.0 released Jan. 28, 2008, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Referring briefly to FIG. 1, this Figure illustrates a conventional storage canister 10 that houses a printed circuit board (not illustrated in this Figure) and corresponding electronics on the printed circuit board. The conventional storage canister 10 has a length dimension L, a width dimension W, and a height dimension H which are dictated by the SBB Specification Version 2.0. Specifically, the width dimension W can comprise a magnitude of 209.55 mm while the height dimension H can comprise a magnitude of 38.1 mm. The length dimension L can comprise a magnitude of 289.05 mm. While there are certain advantages in keeping the dimensions of the conventional storage canister 10 constant, there can be disadvantages when a user desires to provide uniquely shaped and customized printed circuit boards (PCBs) within the storage canister 10.
For example, if a larger printed circuit board is desired to be used with a particular storage enclosure, then this cannot be done because the conventional storage canister 10 has a fixed size. As a further example, if two or more printed circuit boards which are coupled together are desired to be coupled to a storage enclosure, then the conventional storage canister 10 cannot be utilized because of its limited, smaller dimensions that are incapable of housing more than one printed circuit board (PCB) which have at least width and length dimensions greater than or equal to that of the conventional storage canister 10.
Even if a conventional storage canister 10 could house or enclose a larger printed circuit board or multiple print circuit boards, the conventional storage canister 10 would likely not be equipped to handle the increased heat generation due to the additional electronics which would be present within the conventional storage canister 10.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a method and system for providing customized storage containers that can house or enclose larger PCBs or multiple PCBs that can be coupled to a single storage enclosure. There is a further need in the art for providing customized storage containers that can adhere to the standards of the mid-plane connectors for storage enclosures in which the mid-plane connectors are designed to receive standard sized storage containers.